Monday, November 8, 2010

Moderate Muslim speaks up

My dear Muslim brothers have you ever noticed that some verses or partial verses are more popular than others?

Allow me to show you an example: “Indeed their plot is great” Surah 12, verse 28. That partial verse referred to women and it is a judgment of the inherent evil of women’s characters. While I have heard this verse repeated over and over all my life, it was never explained. It was given as a confirmation that God said women were bad.

It is the story of Joseph when the wife of the king of Egypt seduced him. The use of the word کيدهن was not given as a conclusion by God or a commentary on the story. However it was said by the king of Egypt as he discovered his wife’s attempt to cheat on him. The same word کيدهن was later used by Joseph when he asked God to save him from the plot of women.

The interpretation of the scene verse 24 is “She was determined to seduce him and he would have inclined if he did not see the proof from God.”

Let us analyze the verse:ولقد همت به وهم بها لولا رءا برهان ربه.

The verb used was repeated twice for her and Joseph. That means that she seduced him and he seduced her if it was not for him seeing the proof from God. I am not saying that the king’s wife did not start the seduction verse 23 clearly stated that it was her idea and that she closed the doors.

I want to point out that the choice of a partial verse was misleading. The use of this partial verse became a common held belief by Muslim men.Did it lead to injustice against women or at least misconception?